Lamar girls in reload mode

By: MIKE TENNEY, Staff Writer

Published 6:00 pm, Wednesday, January 8, 2003

Despite having eight freshmen on a 26-player varsity roster, Lamar High Head Girls Soccer Coach Craig Moseley says there is not a three or four-year plan with the hope of a state championship contender somewhere down the line.

Instead, every winter, Moseley just wants his program, which has not lost a district game during his four-year tenure, to take another step forward in the postseason.

Last year the Redskins went 19-6-1 and collected their first ever playoff win with a 2-0 triumph over Dulles before being eliminated by Cinco Ranch in the Region III quarterfinals.

This year, were hoping maybe we can go a little further in the regional tournament, Moseley says. Every year Ive been here weve made progress. Weve really gone from not wanting to get slaughtered in the playoffs to believing we can win. We just have to keep trying to go farther every time we get in. ##M:(full story)##

Several of those eight freshmen came up big last Friday and Saturday in the Redskins third place finish at the season-opening 16-team Brazoswood tournament where they won three of four games in about 32 hours.

Moseley relied heavily on his first-year varsity players because five starters were out of town on a skiing trip and he was very pleased with the performances of those who stayed and played.

Ninth graders Carolyn Cohen, Sarah Bryan, and Paige Rowley all scored goals in at least two of the teams four games in Brazoswood. Freshmen goalkeepers Kristen Pactor and Nicole Traylor were also effective with the Redskins giving up just seven goals in four games and four of those came in a 4-2 semifinal loss to Stratford, which went on to win the tournament.

These are not just freshmen players that we put in to fill the spots on the roster because we were missing five starters, says Moseley. These are eight very talented freshmen that can play the game and play the game at a high level.

The coach admitted he had a lot of things to think about regarding his team because he has some serious depth and players who know they can contribute.

This does make my job more difficult because there could be a lot of difficult decisions to make regarding playing time, says Moseley. Weve got a lot of girls who can make good things happen for us.

Becca Ainsworth, Carrie Copenhagen, and Shelly Stevenson were the other Lamar girls who scored goals in the Brazoswood event, meaning even without five starters, six different players put the ball in the net in four games.